Introduction-to-the-Biblejoy.pptx

THE BIBLE Introduction of Key Terms and Historical Timeline of Its Writing and Compilation Terminologies The word Bible comes from the Greek words ta biblia, meaning “the books” or more specifically “little papyrus books” – The little papyrus books mentioned may have referre...

THE BIBLE Introduction of Key Terms and Historical Timeline of Its Writing and Compilation Terminologies The word Bible comes from the Greek words ta biblia, meaning “the books” or more specifically “little papyrus books” – The little papyrus books mentioned may have referred to the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible (also known as the Old Testament) – The word biblion itself literally means “scroll” or “paper”, referring to the Egyptian papyrus coming from the Phoenician seaport Byblos which exports said product to Greece In Latin, biblia is short for biblia sacra – “holy book” Terminologies The word Scripture is also used for the Bible which comes from Latin: scriptura – “writings” (or manuscripts in general) – Eventually, the term “scripture” became associated with “sacred writings of a religion”, no longer as a general term for writings The word sacred is also used to describe the Scriptures/Bible – thus Sacred Scriptures – As “sacred” scripture, the writings gain religious authority and are compiled into an accepted canon – As sacred, the Bible is a venerated religious artifact that is set aside for worship of God and commands spiritual reverence/devotion Definition The Holy Bible or Sacred Scriptures is/are: – The Word of God set down in writing – A collection of religious texts considered to be inspired by God that records the relationship between God and His chosen people, providing an anthology of general history and personal stories of remarkable individuals that reflect God’s plan of salvation for humans and all of creation Other facts about the Bible: – It is the best-selling book of all time, with 100 million copies sold annually – Most influential book of all time: it shaped history and culture, not just literature – Recognized and accepted by three major religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam Composition of the Bible CATHOLIC EDITION PROTESTANT EDITION 73 Books 66 Books Old Testament: includes Old Testament: deutero- deutero-canonicals (“second canonicals are excluded and canon”) called apocrypha (“hidden”) – 46 Books – 39 Books New Testament New Testament – 27 Books – 27 Books Key Concepts about the Bible  Languages used in the Bible  Hebrew – the original language of the Old Testament (thus it is called as Hebrew Bible); it is the language of the Israelites of the OT  Koine Greek – the language in which the New Testament is written, as well as the first translation of the Hebrew Bible called Septuagint; it is the common form of Greek language spoken and written during the Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine eras  Aramaic – the language of Jesus and his apostles; the common language of Judea during the first century, probably a Galilean dialect, the lingua franca among Jews of that time  Latin – the language of the Romans who conquered the known world years after Alexander’s conquest; since Rome is the capital of the empire, the necessity of translating the OT and NT into became urgent Key Concepts about the Bible  Earliest Versions and Translations of the Bible  Hebrew Bible – called as Tanakh; largely written in the Hebrew language and is sacred to the Hebrew people  Tanakh is acronym for Torah (“Teaching”, the Pentateuch), Nevi’im (Prophets) and Ketuvim (Writings)  Septuagint (LXX) – the earliest koine Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, various apocrypha and deutero-canonical books; literally means The Translation of the Seventy referring to the legend of 70 Jewish scholars from each Israelite tribe who independently produced identical translations  Vulgate –. late 4th century Latin translation of the Bible largely done by St. Jerome, upon the commission of Pope Damasus I Key Concepts about the Bible  Divine Inspiration  “Inspirare” – “God-breathed”, divinely breathed into  Divine origin of the scriptures: but God is not the direct author of the Bible  God guided the human authors in writing the scriptures  The human authors wrote according to their backgrounds, situations and experiences, and used their particular styles, utilizing a particular literary genre, and they act as instruments of God’s own “authorship” in their works  Historical authenticity is thus important because the human author is as important as the message of the writing  2 MAJOR PARTS OF THE BIBLE  OLD TESTAMET  Record of the old covenant between God and His chosen people. It describes mankind’s preparation for the coming of the Messiah.  NEW TESTAMENT  is a record of the new covenant made by God with the entire human race, through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The Old Testament leads up to the time of Christ and the New Testament flows from the time of Christ. The life of Jesus Christ separates the Old and New Testaments and is the center and focal point of the Bible The Old Testament is subdivided into 4 parts  PENTATUECH - The first 5 books of the Bible  Historical – tells us the story of all the difficulties and hardships the Israelites experienced, their success and achievements.  Wisdom – these books abound with simple sayings full of wisdom, they also contain beautiful prayers called Psalms.  Prophetic books:  Major Prophets – Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Baruch, Ezekiel, Daniel  Minor Prophets – Hosea to Malachi  The terms ‘major”or “minor” do not refer to their  The New Testament  The Gospels – Gospel means Good News. It tells about the life, the words, and deeds of Jesus. They relate the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection. - The first 3 are called “Synoptics”  Acts of the Apostles – the only early account of the Christian community.  Apostolic Letters –  Paul’s Letters Romans – Philemon - The Letter to the Hebrews  The 7 Catholic Letters  The book of Revelation – the book is intended to give hope to those who are near despair.  Key Persons who Shaped the Bible King Hezekiah (8th century BC) Early form of the Old Testament was compiled by commissioning royal scribes to record royal history and heroic legends King Josiah (6th century BC) Also referred to in second book of Kings and second book of Chronicles as well Compiled and added the books of Deuteronomy and Judges  Key Persons who Shaped the Bible  King Ptolemy II Philadelphus (283-246 BC)  Son of Ptolemy Soter, general of Alexander the Great who founded the Ptolemaic Kingdom in Egypt after Alexander’s death  He commissioned the translation of the Hebrew Torah into Greek, now known as the Septuagint (circa 250-200 BC)  Emperor Constantine the Great (272-337 AD)  First Roman Emperor to convert to Christianity  Commissioned 50 copies of the Bible that motivated the development of canon lists for the books in the Bible (331 AD)  Key Persons who Shaped the Bible  Athanasius of Alexandria (296-373 AD)  20th bishop of Alexandria, defended the Church against Arianism  Identified the complete New Testament canon of 27 books for the first time (367 AD)  Saint Jerome (347-420 AD)  Translated the New Testament from Greek to Latin (382-384 AD) and then translates the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) into Latin (390-405 AD)  The completed translations consisted of 39 OT books, 27 NT books and 14 Apocryphal books  This Latin translation of the Bible came to be known as the Vulgate  Key Persons who Shaped the Bible Venerable Bede (672-735 AD)  An English Benedictine monk and scholar, known as “Father of English History”  Translated the Gospels into Anglo-Saxon (735 AD) Stephen Langton (1150-1228 AD)  Theology professor, English Cardinal and Archbishop of Canterbury (1207-1228)  Created the first chapter divisions in the books of the Bible (1205 AD)  Key Persons who Shaped the Bible  John Wycliffe* (1320-1384 AD)  English philosopher, theologian and reformer; a predecessor to Protestantism  Protested against the banning of the use of the Bible by common people and advocated the translation of the Bible into the vernacular  Translated and produced the first handwritten manuscript of the entire Bible in English (1381-82)  Johannes Gutenberg (1400-1468 AD)  German inventor, publisher and printer who introduced printing via printing press to Europe  Produced the first printed Bible, the Gutenberg Bible, in the Latin Vulgate  Key Persons who Shaped the Bible  Martin Luther* (1483-1546 AD)  German priest-monk who is best known for initiating the Protestant Reformation  Translated and published the New Testament for the first time into German (1522 AD)  Robert Estienne (1503-1559 AD)  French printer and scholar, publisher of Thesaurus linguae latinae  Published a French Bible with chapter and verse divisions. His system of numbering became widely accepted and still found in most Bibles today.